Tour Scotland on a small group vacation of my Scottish homeland. Welcome to my Tour Scotland web pages. On this Scottish blog I will post information and videos about Scotland and my Small Group Tours of Scotland, History of Scotland, Scottish Humor, Scottish Cookery, Genealogy of Scotland, Music of Scotland, Photographs of Scotland, and much more. Please share your own experiences of Scotland on this site which I update daily. Please feel free to contact me at: sandystevenson@thefreesite.com

Monday, September 17, 2007

Tour Loch Ness Scotland. A very sunny, but rather cold Monday morning, at Loch Ness, Scotland.

The Encyclopaedia of the Loch Ness Monster. This reference guide brings together all the facts and fables surrounding Nessie. In fact it includes everything you will ever want to know about the loch and its mysterious inhabitant. The Encyclopaedia of the Loch Ness Monster.

Monday, September 10, 2007

A beautiful day here in Scotland. The perfect day to tour Glamis Castle and Gardens, Angus, Scotland. Glamis Castle is the family home of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne and has been a royal residence since 1372. It was the childhood home of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, best known as the Queen Mother. It is also known as one of the most haunted castles in Scotland. My guests in the photograph above are all from Alberta, Canada. Glamis Castle photographs.

Friday, September 07, 2007

Scottish Porridge. Porridge is one of the best-known Scottish specialities. Usually eaten for breakfast, it is filling and makes a good start to the day especially when about to spend a long day in the hills. It is said that porridge should be eaten standing up.

One pint (600 ml) of water.Two and a half ounces of medium oatmeal.A pinch of salt.

Put the water into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the oatmeal while stirring to prevent any lumps forming. Cover and simmer gently for about 15 minutes. Add the salt and stir it in well. Cover the pan again and simmer for a further 10 minutes or until the porridge is fairly thick. Porridge is traditionally served hot with separate bowls of cream or milk. Each spoonful of porridge is dipped into the cream or milk and then eaten. Serves 2.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

The Curewife. In the reign of Charles I, Grissel Jaffray, The Curewife, arrives in Dundee as a new bride and begins a diary, intending to pass the story of her life and the lives of her ancestors to her first-born daughter. Through the transcription of this diary, a powerful narrative unfolds. Grissel Jaffary has inherited a legacy of uncommon sagacity: the accumulated knowledge of her forebears who possessed the gift of healing and practised witchcraft for more than three centuries. Grissel is a woman of keen intelligence whose ficitonal journal graphically depicts life in seventeeth century Dundee: a land of war, plague, political turmoil and fanatical witch-hunts.

This compelling story, based on the very few known facts about the life of a real character, subtly embraces major historical figures and events, from Bannockburn and Robert the Bruce to Cromwell and Monck, regicide and the lost treasure of the River Tay. The Curewife.

Surgery in Scotland, 1837-1901. In the earlier years, an operation was a dreadful experience for both patient and surgeon, but by the 1840s the arrival of general anaesthesia offered relief from the agonies of surgery. However, the discomforts and dangers of infection in surgical wounds persisted until the 1860s, when Joseph Lister in Glasgow and Edinburgh began his life’s work. He established the Antiseptic Principle which soon led to great advances in surgical practice.

To this transformation surgeons in Scotland made outstanding contributions: Lister himself, Alexander Ogston in Aberdeen who discovered the cause of wound sepsis, William Macewen in Glasgow, who revealed previously unrecognised possibilities in orthopaedics and the surgery of the brain, and many others. In the sixty-four years of Queen Victoria’s reign, these pioneers laid the foundations of safe, painless surgery. Today, we directly benefit from their dedicated work.

A Surgical Revolution includes vivid descriptions of the patients treated, as well as the charismatic surgeons themselves. Drawing on a wealth of sources, its stories and anecdotes will appeal as much to the general reader as to historians, medics and scientists. A Surgical Revolution: Surgery in Scotland, 1837-1901.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cream of tartar and salt into a bowl. Stir in the sugar. Beat the egg and milk together and gradually add to the dry ingredients stirring all the time to prevent any lumps forming. Put a tablespoon or two of the batter on to a hot girdle or lightly greased frying pan. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface of each pancake and the underside is golden brown. Turn each pancake over with a palette knife and cook the other side until golden. Makes about 16.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes might have been the epitome of cool reason, a calculating machine, in the words of his friend Dr John H. Watson, but the real life of his creator was very different. A man of deep emotion, complex motivation and prodigious energy, Arthur Conan Doyle ended his life an ardent spiritualist, happy to promote the famous Cottingley Fairies photographs, which are now known to have been faked. Having rejected his Irish family's Catholicism, he could not, for all his scientific training as a doctor, dismiss his gut feeling that there was another dimension to existence. Well before he adopted spiritualism as a religion during the First World War, he dabbled in all aspects of the paranormal, holding seances while a Doctor in Portsmouth.

With his sure understanding of the historical background, Andrew Lycett sets this unfolding story against the intellectual currents of the age, as well as unravelling his subject's internal life. Plagued by an alcoholic father and stirred on by a domineering mother, Conan Doyle fell into a placid marriage which was rudely interrupted when he fell passionately in love with another woman, just as his first wife contracted the tuberculosis that would kill her. Conan Doyle dealt with these traumatic events by throwing himself even more into his work, taking up various causes, such as the injustice meted out on the solicitor George Edalji, and immersing himself in a wide range of other activities, including politics, clubland, and sports. His literary output was not confined to the creation of fiction's most famous detective; Lycett sheds new light on Conan Doyle's horror and occult stories, historical romances, factual histories, and spiritualist tracts. With access to fascinating new material, Lycett gives the most comprehensive, psychologically satisfying and delightfully readable portrait yet of the man who created Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle: The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

A bagpiper competing today in the Pibroch competition at the Blairgowrie and Rattray Highland Games, Perthshire, Scotland.

Traditional Gaelic Bagpiping 1745-1945. Pulling together what is known of eighteenth-century West Highland piping and pipers, Gibson presents a new interpretation of the decline of Gaelic piping and a new view of Gaelic society prior to the Highland diaspora. Refuting widely accepted opinions that after Culloden pipes and pipers were effectively banned in Scotland by the Disarming Act of 1746, Gibson reveals that traditional dance bagpiping continued to at least the mid-nineteenth century. He argues that the dramatic depopulation of the Highlands in the nineteenth century was one of the main reasons for the decline of piping. Following the path of Scottish emigrants, Gibson traces the history of bagpiping in the New World and uncovers examples of late eighteenth-century traditional bagpiping and dance in Gaelic Cape Breton, arguing that these anachronistic cultural forms provide a vital link to the vanished folk music and culture of the Scottish Highlanders. Traditional Gaelic Bagpiping 1745-1945.

Old and New World Highland Bagpiping. Old and New World Highland Bagpiping is a stimulating and controversial book which also provides a comprehensive biographical and genealogical account of pipers and piping in both Highland Scotland and Gaelic Cape Breton. The result of over thirty years oral fieldwork among the last of the Gaels in Cape Breton, as well as an exhaustive synthesis of Scottish archival sources, this book shows that traditional community bagpiping in the Old and New World Gaidhealtachdan was, and for a long time remained, the same. John Gibson explores the distortions introduced by the tendency to interpret the written record from the perspective of modern, post-eighteenth-century bagpiping. Old and New World Highland Bagpiping.

Scottish Poet Harvey Holton reads a short extract from his poem in Scots from his publication Finn at his home in North Fife. Harvey and I have been friends for almost thirty years and first met when I lived at Kilmany, and Harvey lived at Rathillet.

The Makars, an anthology of poetry from the age of the Makars, the true golden age of Scottish literature, marking an extraordinary flowering of Scottish culture and the Scots language. Writers included are Gavin Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld, Robert Henryson, William Dunbar and Sir David Lindsay. The Makars: An Anthology (Canongate Classics).

Scots, The Mither Tongue is a classic of contemporary Scottish culture and essential reading for those who care about their country's identity in the twenty-first century. It is a passionately written history of how the Scots have come to speak the way they do and it acted as a catalyst for radical changes in attitude towards the language. Since it was first published it has sold twenty thousand, testimony to the power of its argument and the style, humour and smeddum of its writing. In this completely revised edition, Kay vigorously renews the social, cultural and political debate on Scotland's linguistic future, and argues convincingly for the necessity to retain and extend Scots if the nation is to hold on to the values that have made them what they are as a people. As ever, Kay places Scots in an international context, comparing and contrasting it with other European lesser-used languages, while at home questioning the Scottish Executive's desire to pay anything more than lip service to this crucial part of our national identity. Language is central to people's existence and this vivid account celebrates the survival of Scots in its various dialects, its literature and song - a national treasure that thrives in many parts of the country and underpins the speech of everyone that calls themselves a Scot. Scots: The Mither Tongue.

The Luath Scots Language Learner, How to Understand and Speak Scots. This work is suitable as an introductory course or for those interested in re-acquainting themselves with the language of childhood and grandparents. The book assumes no prior knowledge on the reader's part. Starting from the most basic vocabulary and constructions, the reader is guided step-by-step through Scots vocabulary and the subtleties of grammar and idiom that distinguish Scots from English. An accompanying audio recording conveys the authentic pronunciation, especially important to readers from outside Scotland. The course is based on General Scots with a slight emphasis on the North-East and contains an introduction, 25 graded lessons, an English-to-Scots vocabulary list, and appendices with verb tables and similar material. Each lesson itself contains dialogues, vocabulary, grammatical explanations, exercises, and, most importantly, a section giving background information about life in Scotland, for the reader to understand the material in its cultural context. This is a fun and interesting insight into Scottish culture. By the end of the course participants should be able to read books and poems in Scots, take part in conversation, and enjoy interacting with Scots speakers. The Luath Scots Language Learner: How to Understand and Speak Scots.

King O the Midden, Manky Mingin Rhymes in Scots. Fred the fush, He had a wush. He wushed that he Wis in the sea Swimmin wi his mate, Haein a yatter, An no on a plate Swimmin in batter. Are the contents of this poetry book sweet and safe? No. They come with a health warning: if you don't like to read about things that are rude, scunnersome, surreal, bizarre or just plain daft, King o the Midden is probably not for you. This collection of specially written rhymes and poems will appeal to anyone with a warped sense of humour. In short sharp bursts of verse, a menagerie of contemporary Scots writers give their views on such diverse subjects as animals, folk at work, families and home life, aliens, superheroes, food and sport. Quick to read, and easy to learn and recite, the results will fire up the dullest imagination and inspire children to put pen to paper and write their own verses of madness and mayhem. King O the Midden: Manky Mingin Rhymes in Scots (Itchy Coo).

The most wide-ranging anthology of twentieth-century poetry in English and Scots available Selected for the pleasure and interest they offer these poems span the entire century. While the major figures, Hugh MacDiarmid, Norman MacCaig, Iain Crichton Smith, and George Mackay Brown, are generously represented, there are many other voices, from the master balladeer of the Yukon, Robert Service, to the internationally known psychiatrist R. D. Laing, the distinguished economist Sir Alec Cairncross, and the troubled but deeply eloquent Rayne Mackinnon. Women are given due prominence. Readers unfamiliar with Helen Adam will experience a frisson at the sexual tensions of her ballad-poems while Naomi Mitchison reveals her intimate self. The admirable Marion Angus, Violet Jacob, and Helen B. Cruickshank show their talents, while contemporary poets Liz Lochhead, Carol Ann Duffy, Janet Paisley, Jackie Kay, and many others, are well represented. In a century of unprecedented change, the poems also act as a commentary on their times - and Scotland's war poets such as Charles Hamilton Sorley and Hamish Henderson, with their anger and eloquence, are included. With its lively engagement with the real world as well as the world of private creativity, this anthology will contribute to an ongoing sense of Scottish cultural identity. The Edinburgh Book of Twentieth-century Scottish Poetry.

A wonderful day at Scotland's Countryside Festival which is held every year in the spectacular grounds of Glamis Castle, childhood home of the Queen Mother. This year, as well as numerous stalls, displays and demonstrations, one of the highlights was The Devil's Horsemen with their spectacular dare devil show. You may have seen The Devil's Horsemen in films such as A Knight's Tale and The Da Vinci Code. Scotland Countryside Festival Photographs.

Tour Scotland Hill Names. This is a fascinating book about the origin, the meaning and the pronunciation of the names of Scotland's hills. This book explains the origin and the meaning of the names of Scotland's hills, as well as how to pronounce them. It also brings together many of the legends and stories behind particular Scottish hill names. This is a thoroughly researched, completely revised and expanded second edition which builds on the success of its predecessor, Scottish Hill and Mountain Names. Many new Scottish names are detailed, including a significant increase in the coverage of Scottish Borders hill names and old forms of many hill names from the seventeenth and eighteenth century maps brought to bear in explanations. The hills of Scotland are a significant part of the landscape and the names of these hills reflect the rich social and cultural history of Scotland over the past five hundred years and all who have been there. These hill names of Scotland are a legacy of the past and this book opens the door to this fascinating world. Scottish Hill Names.